Where did I go wrong?

[FoMoCo66]

I was a couple coats deep into my paint job ready for my final coat, loaded up my airbrush for one more and POOF!

What the heck happened, its almost like my airbrush started shooting webs!? For context, I was using MCW enamel thinned 50/50, around 22 psi, and an Iwata gravity fed eclipse HP-CS.

Now the car sits in the purple pond waiting for another chance at life.

Thanks for any of your expertise you could provide.

Elliot

[Ace-Garageguy]

If the paint was laying out nice and glossy previously, I'd suspect either you misjudged your thinner ratio on the coat in question (I've done it myself), leading to a dry-spray situation, or your tip clogged somewhat and you didn't notice until you started getting orange peel and cobwebs (which has also happened to me on occasion), again a dry-spray manifestation.

If that was clear, it would have polished out with some effort...but with the chance of going through the high spots.

[FoMoCo66]

1 hour ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

If the paint was laying out nice and glossy previously, I'd suspect either you misjudged your thinner ratio on the coat in question (I've done it myself), leading to a dry-spray situation, or your tip clogged somewhat and you didn't notice until you started getting orange peel and cobwebs (which has also happened to me on occasion), again a dry-spray manifestation.

If that was clear, it would have polished out with some effort...but with the chance of going through the high spots.

Thanks for the advice, I presume that a dry spray means that it was too thin? If that's the case it makes sense, i thinned it 50/50 like you would Testors or Tamiya, but apparently you are supposed to thin MCW enamels 70/30. Probably just my bad memory because this is not my first time spraying MCW enamels 😭.

Edited Thursday at 02:11 AM by FoMoCo66

[peteski]

To me "dry spray" means the paint was too thick, not enough thinner, so it would dry on the way to the model, creating those webs and wouldn't level out when it hit the surface.

[Rick L]

Test! Test! Test! 
a quick shot of paint on a plastic spoon before you dive into painting the model is always easier than stripping the paint after.

[stavanzer]

And, if not a spoon, at least blast the bottom of the paint stand you have the body mounted to.